Movie Review: Adaptation

I want to study this movie. I want to meet Charlie Kaufman. Spike Jonze is fantastic. (side note--I just watched Sliding Doors Thursday, and realized I was watching two SJ movies in a row. The style is similar.) OK, so this movie is brilliant. I suggest watching it twice in a row. It's a fictionalized account of Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt the book, "The Orchard Thief", to a film. I've seen it once before, but it was such a long time ago that I didn't remember most of it. But as I was watching it, there were these lightbulb moments--oh yeah!!--that I remembered feeling the first time around. Very deja vu. For instance, there is a moment where Charlie is speaking into his tape recorder as to how he wants the movie to open, when you realize, THAT'S EXACTLY HOW THE MOVIE OPENED! There is no way to describe the brilliance of this film, so go see it. Kaufman also wrote "Being John Malkovich", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". Jonze directed "Malkovich".

One of my favorite lightbulb moments comes after Robert McKee says, "for God's sake, don't use a deus ex machina!" Then, at the end, Kaufman does! It's one of those realizations where you think: "Holy crap! Kaufman is a genius!" His plots are so complex that they're simple. No, that's not right. His plots aren't complex. Maybe it's his concepts. If you can think of a good way to describe it, please do so.

Bottom line: 5 star film.